it was a rarefied and highly personal world, yet it proved a fertile soil from which his great fantasy novels were to grow. Because of the writing mentioned above, it's considerably denser and packed to brim with information. However, when it comes to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, there is just something there that has me coming back for more.

To be clear, I have many different copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (LOTR), including the Folio Society editions from the eighties. Now, the new hardback editions of these beautifully illustrated works have been collected together into one boxed set of four books.

There is something about the alluring world of elves, dwarves and old magic which has proved exceptionally popular, working on the imagination both as an enthralling adventure story and, at a deeper level, as ’a comprehensive counter-myth to the story of the 20th century’ (Independent).

Featuring ink-sprayed edges and two maps of Middle-earth, this special edition is illustrated throughout in colour by Tolkien himself. Looking back on it after growing more familiar with the series, it's a little barebones in terms of characterisation and has been written with a lot of restraint. This illustrated Edition was released in mid 2020 and features a huge array of painting from Alan Lee.Also, if you want to reference the maps on the end-papers when reading, it is so much easier without the dust jacket getting in the way. I say this as the inner binding covers are top quality and very robust, such that I have read all four volumes without the dust jacket (leaving it in the box set in the place of the actual volume) and none of them have a blemish in sight. It's one of the finest books ever conceived and was adapted into a fantastic trilogy of movies by Peter Jackson. All in all, while it's great to finally have Tolkien's original illustrations married with the text, the production of the book could be better, hence the dropped star. These include the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, marvellous facsimiles created by Tolkien to accompany the famous ‘Bridge of Khazad-dum’ chapter.